Speed control for brushless motors with an ESP8266

Learn how the brushless motors works, how to control them with PWM using a speed controller, an ESP8266, and Ubidots.

What are Brushless motors?

Also known as synchronous DC motors, they are an special type of motor that consist on a stator and a rotor as most of the motors out there, but with a difference, "brushless motors" ,as it name tell us, do not have brushes electrically connected between the stator and the rotor to reduce friction, vibrations, inefficiency.

How do they work?

These motors are associated with an inverter. The inverter makes the supply voltage to the coils sequentially, thus the poles of the rotor move according to the magnetic field generated by the coils sequentially. The speed of the rotor and its axis, will depend on the speed of sequencing of the variator.

We can find them normally on RC airplanes or cars, also drones.

In the follow tutorial we are going to learn about Brushless motors, how to control them with an ESP8266 (NodeMCU) and Ubidots.

Now, verify your code is correct by clicking the check button in the Arduino IDE above the editor.

Once the code is verified, you will receive a response similar to the one below, indicating that it is properly set up.

Next, your have to upload the code into your NodeMCU. To do this, choose the right-arrow icon besides the check icon.

Once the code is uploaded, you will receive the message below in the Arduino IDE:

Testing Session:

Connect the battery or power supply to the ESC.

Then, everything is ready, just swipe the slider on your web or mobile dashboard.

Summary:

In this guide we just learned how do Brushless motors works and how to control them with the ESP8266 NodeMCU and Ubidots. This project could help us to design electronics control systems for mechanics devices. Ex: Automatic Curtains, a thermo-controlled fan for summer, and everything in wich your imagination can get into with motors.